Paumacariya (critical study)
by K. R. Chandra | 1970 | 238,015 words
This is an English study of the Paumacariya: the earliest Jain version of Rama's life story, written in Prakrit by Vimalasuri dating to the 4th century AD. In this text, Rama (referred to as Padma) is depicted with lotus-like eyes and a blooming face. The Paumacariya places emphasis on the human aspects of characters rooted in Jain values, contrast...
IV. Rama’s journey from Citrakuta to Dandakaranya
A. Main work during the Journey: According to the Paumacariya, Rama and Laksmana along with Sita, throughout their journey from the Citrakuta hill upto their entering into the foret of Dandaka, primarily assist the helpless rulers and rescue them from the atrocities of the oppressive kings and tribal chiefs. They bring them under the suzerainty of their brother Bharata and promise to marry several girls offered to them by those kings. It is only on the Vamsagiri that they pay homage to some monks and save them. from a calamity. In the Valmiki Ramayana and the Ramcharitmanas, Rama along with Sita and Laksmana comes across various Rsis who greet Rama and inform him of the atrocities of the Raksasas. Rama promises to annihilate the Raksasas. There is no reference to the subjugation of any ruler by Rama and Laksmana. B. Route of their Journey : According to the Paumacariya they leave behind the Citrakuta hill and enter the Avantidesa. Further they cross the river Narmada and after traversing the Vindhya forest they reach the land where flows the river Tapi. Proceeding further they arrive at the Vamsasthalagiri. From there they depart to the Dandakaranya where flows the rivers Krauncarava and Karnarava. They sojourn there. According to the Valmiki Ramayana, they immediately enter the Dandakaranya leaving behind Citrakuta and the Asrama of Atri. They proceed by 1. It has been already stated in the preceding section that they came across some hermitages before reaching the Citrakuta hill. They stayed there for night only (33.4). Further in the Dandaka forest they pay homage to two more monks (Sec.5).
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RAMA-STORY 59 the side of the river Mandakini and reach Pancapsara. From there they go to the bank of Godavari (Pancavati) and sojourn there. C. Account of Rama's Journey: A brief comparative account of the important incidents during their journey is given below. According to the Paumacariya, Rama along with Laksmana and Sita enters the territory of Avanti (33.11), leaving behind the Citrakuta hill and reach Dasapura. Laksmana subdues Simhodara, the king of Ujjeni (capital of Avanti) and rescues Vajrakarna, the lord of Dasapura from the captivity of Simhodara, the overlord of Vajrakarna. Laksmana accepts the girls offered to him in marriage by both the kings. From there they go to the town of Kuvavadda (33.148) and promise prince Kalyanamala to get his father (Valikhilya) released from the clutches. of Rudrabhuti, the Mleccha chief of the Kagonanda tribe. Proceeding further they cross the river Narmada and enter the Vindhya forest (34.34). Laksmana subdues Rudrabhuti and rescues Valikhilya (34.51). Further traversing the forest and the land of Tapi they reach. Arunagrama and go to the house of Kapila, an orthodox Brahmin, to quench the thirst of Sita. Unfortunately being insulted by that orthodox Brahmin (35.9) they repair to the forest. A Yaksa, Potana by name, greets them and conjures up a divine colony called Ramapuri (35.26) for their sojourn. Unknowingly. Kapila approaches them with the hope of gaining some wealth. He is welcomed and offered great wealth by Rama. Kapila then becomes a layman of the Jaina faith. Yaksa Potana presents Rama, Laksmana and Sita with a necklace, a pair of earring (cudamani), a braid-jewel and a lute when they depart from Ramapuri (36.4-6). In due course they reach Vijayapura. Laksmana gives his consent to marry Vanamala, the daughter of Mahidhara, king of that town (36.35). Further on getting the news of the attack of Ativirya, the ruler of Nandyavartapura, on their brother Bharata, they go to the battle-field and subdue Ativirya by means of a stratagem. Ativirya accepts the suzerainty of Bharata (37.64-65). Vijayaratha, the son of Ativirya engages his sister Ratimala to Laksmana and marries Vijayasundari to Bharata (38.1,8). Resuning his journey Rama along with Sita and Laksmana reaches Ksemanjalipura. Laksmana wins the hand of Jitapadma, the princess of that place by withstanding a severe test proposed by her father, king Satrudamana (38.44). Proceeding further they ward off the calamity (uvasagga) caused by some celestial being to disturb the two monks, 1. Really a princess in the disguise of a prince (34.23).
60 A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYAM Desabhusana and Kulabhusana meditating at the Vamsagiri. Another celestial being Garudadhipati appears there and makes a promise to assist Rama and Laksmana in difficulty (39.131). Suraprabha, the king of Vamsasthalapura extends a hearty ovation to them and provides them with all the facilities. He gets many Jina shrines constructed on that hill on the advice of Rama. The hill comes to be known as Ramagiri (40.16). Rama continues his journey and enters the Dandakaranya forest (41.1) which is said to be situated on the other side of the river Karnarava (Kannarava 40.13). According to the Valmiki Ramayana, many Tapasas inform Rama sojourning on the Citrakuta hill, of the dreadful atrocities being perpetrated on them by the Raksasas under the leadership of Khara (2.116.11) in the Janasthana. They advise Rama to go to some safe place and themselves migrate to the Asrama of muni Asva (2.116.20). The place being deserted by the Tapasas was not worth living; then the haunting memory of Bharata's sweet visit associated with that place tormented him time and again, and the place had become very untidy too, so Rama leaves (2.117.2-4) that place and goes to the Asrama of Atri and Anasuya. Atri greets Rama as a worthy prince while Anasuya greets Sita and presents' her with clothes ornaments, unguents, anointments and garlands (2.118.18). From there they enter the forest of Dandaka (3. 1. 1). Staying there for a day in the Asrama of some Rsis they On the way they encounter Viradha, a fierce proceed further. Raksasa (3.2) who snatches away Sita. They overpower him and bury him alive (2.4) according to his wishes, Then they arrive at the asrama of muni Sarabhanga as directed by Viradha (3. 4. 20). In course of their further journey they meet many sages (munisanghah) annihilate the and listen to their complaints. They promise Raksasas and rescue the sages from oppression. Among these various types of Tapasas there are the Valakhilyas2 who have profuse hair grown on their bodies. Proceeding further by the side of the river Mandakini and after traversing many rivers and by-passing many hills they reach the asrama of Sutiksna and pay respects to him (3.7. 1) On the way They resume their journey to visit various other asramas. ! to Sita mildly protests against the decision of Rama to put an end to the Raksasas, because she tells him that penance and bow cannot go 1. 'Inam divyam varam malyam vastramabharanani ca Angaragam ca Vaidehi maharhamanulepanam'. 2. The Tilaka commentary calls them 'prajapaternakhalomajah' or 'ye vataste Valikhilyah (3. 6. 2), In the Paumacariya there is the account of rescuing Valikhilya, the father of Kalyanamala of Kuvavadda by Rama.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RAMA-STORY 61 together (3. 9. 27). Rama insists on performing his righteous duty by destroying the wicked. Proceeding further they reach Pancapsara Tataka (3. 11. 11), stay there for a very long period of time and visit again muni Sutiksna. From there they go to the asrama of the brother of Agastya and then to that of muni Agastya. They pay obeisance to the great sage while the sage expresses his regards for them and presents them with a divine Vaisnava bow, an arrow, a quiver and a sword (3. 12. 32-36). Being directed by the sage, they proceed towards Pancavati (3. 13. 13), situated beside Godavari (3. 13 18), for their final resort. the river The Ramcharitmanas follows the Valmiki Ramayana, but in it Rama is deified (8. 4). He departs from the Citrakuta hill with the fear that he will be disturbed and often frequented by the people as they had known the reality that Rama was an incarnation of Visnu (3. 3)1. During his journey all the munis pay obeisance to Rama, taking him as God personified. Sita is also deified. She is mentioned as 'Sri' (Laksmi 3. 7). There is no reference to the snatching away of Sita by Viradha. Rama manifests his 'caturbhuja-rupa' and Sutiksna eulogises Rama as God-incarnate. There is no reference to the Pancapsaratataka. Muni Agastya addresses Rama as Hari and worships him (3. 12). From there Rama goes to Pancavati. The Paumacariya agrees with the Paumacariya But it mentions Kuvavadda as Kuvara, Potana as Putana (Yaksadhipati) and names the place where the colony was conjured up by the Yaksa as Vanasthali (35. 54). Sita is said to have been left behind with an Arya (nun) when Rama proceeded to subjugate Ativirya (37. 95). The Paumacariu deviates from the account of the Paumacariya and the Paumacariya It mentions that Rudrabhuti on being enamoured of Sita commissions his warriors to snatch her away. (27. 3. 9), but he soon falls at the feet of Rama and Laksmana as soon as he learns that they are Baladeva and Vasudeva respectively (27. 8. 9). Vijayapura is mentioned as Jivantapura (29. 10) while the name of the king is Anantavirya (30. 1. 2), It does not refer to Ratimala and Vijayasundari. The river Godavari (Golanai) is referred 3 1. In the interpolated chapter 5.45 after 7.37 of the Valmiki Ramayana, Rama is called Padmanabha i. e. Visnu. 2. She is also called the mother of world, 'jagadambi by Angada when he goes to Lanka to persuade Kavana (Ramcharitmanas, 6. 20. 3). In the Valmiki Ramayana, in an interpolated chapter Sita is addressed as Laksmi (3. 2. and 5. 53 after 7. 37). 3. In the Valmiki Ramayana Viradha snatches away Sita, but he surrenders to Rama as soon as he remembers the prophecy made by Vaisravana that he will attain Svarga on being killed by Rama (3. 4. 18).
62 A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYAM to have fallen on their way (31. 3. 2). It refers to a heap of bones1 of those candidates who tried to win the hand of Jitapadma, but on being unsuccessful, they were killed by Aridamana-Satrudamana (tahem karanemjo jo marai johu, so ghippai tam haddairi ehu 31. 5. 8). The Ramapurana of Bhattaraka Somasena. follows the Paumacariya, but it does not speak of the offering of girls by king Simhodara and Vajrakarna to Laksmana (p. 104). Kuvavadda is mentioned as Nalakacchapura. Valikhilya is said to have afterwards appointed Rudrabhuti as his minister (p. 106) on the advice of Rama. The land of Tapi is called Khanadesa. According to the Paumacariya, the sons of Mahidhara accompany Rama to assist him in subjugating Ativirya (37. 32), but the Ramapurana of Bhattaraka Somasena. tells us that Mahidhara (Prthvidhara) also goes along with Rama (p. 109). The Trishashti Shalaka Purusha-caritra follows the Paumacariya, but it mentions Kuvavadda as Kubararpura (iv. p. 222). Here Kalyanamala is said to have been offered in marriage to Laksmana (IV. p. 223). Rudrabhuti is called Rudradeva, a Kaka and the lord of the Kiratas (p. 224). He tries to snatch away Sita but he is unable to withstand the fight given by Laksmana. It clearly mentions that the river Tapi is crossed by Rama (IV. 224). The Yaksa lord is called Gokarna (IV. p. 225). The Vasudevahindi does not refer to these various incidents. It says that after leaving Bharata behind, Rama goes towards the south, visits various Tapasas on the way and reaches Vijanasthana. The Uttarapurana and the Mahapurana do not contain any such accounts. The Dasaratha Jataka, the Dasaratha Kathanam and the Anamakam Jataka also do not refer to these incidents. The following accounts of the Buddhacarita, Raghuvamsa and the Ascaryacudamani have something common with the attack of Anantavirya on Bharata and Rama's counter attack as found in the Paumacariya In the Buddhacarita it is mentioned that Rama came from 'tapovana' to defend his country when it was devastated by the Anaryas (Tatha mahim viprakrtamanaryaistapovanadetya raraksa Ramah 9.69). In the Tibetan Ramayana it is said that Rama took voluntary exile in favour of his younger brother's coronation and joined some hermitage. The reference in the Buddhacarita to the 'tapovana' perhaps speaks of this type of exile of Rama. The Raghuvamsa2 mentions that Bharata was immediately called 1. The Ramcharitmanas refers to the heap of bones of the munis killed by the Raksasas (asthi samuha dekhi Raghuraya 3.9). See Adhyatma Ramayana, 3.2. 19 (patitanyanekani siransi asthi bhutani. 2. The Valmiki Ramayana (2.67) merely describes the drawbacks of a kingless state and compares it with a wild forest which is full of danger.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RAMA-STORY 63 back from his maternal uncle after the exile of Rama, for the kingdom without a king was likely to slip into the hands of enemies (12. 11). In the Ascarya Gudamaninataka of Saktibhadra when Rama and Laksmana are away for hunting the 'Kanaka mrga' Ravana and his charioteer in the disguise of Rama and Laksmana approach Sita and ask her to ride the chariot as they want to go to assist Bharata whose territory is in danger.